EnterPlicity Project Management Software Tools Blog

Five Things Project Management Software Can't Do

Mark K — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 11:08:31 -0500

Do I think that project management software is valuable? Yes, when implemented with a good process. Implementing project management software will not solve all of your problems. It can do a nice job of supporting your solutions, processes, and objectives. But let's be sure we understand some things that it cannot do. Here is my top five list:

1. Project management software cannot enter data. Your people still need to enter in actual data. You have to make sure the data input is clear and relevant, and hold people accountable for entering in correct data.

2. Project management software cannot make decisions. You have to make decisions. But project management software can provide you with the information to make informed decisions.

3. Project management software cannot automate your entire operation. Unless you have a very large budget for a very large, complicated system, you will still need to do some manual activities in the system. It can automate some routine, mundane tasks (i.e. sending out notifications and producing reports), but it will not take the place of someone directing the operation.

4. Project management software cannot eliminate the crazy report requests your boss makes. But it can make it easier to pull the information needed for those crazy report requests.

5. Project management software does not mean you don't need anyone to track your schedules. Schedules do not magically appear in good format so that informed decisions can be made. Someone needs to make sure they are being entered correctly, reports are setup correctly, etc. Project management software can make this much, much easier so that you don't need to spend as much time chasing down and dissemanating information, but you cannot eliminate the need altogether.

5 Questions to Answer Before Implementing Project Management Software

Mark K — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 10:16:12 -0500

Project management software, like any software, needs to be implemented well in order to obtain the expected benefits. Here are five questions to answer before you start implementing project management software (or to answer before trying to reinvigorate your existing implementation).

Why?

Why are you using this software? You need to have the objective and end goal in mind. Is it to solve a specific problem? One of our clients implemented our software to help solve the problem of delivering projects to their customers late. Is it to better manage resources? Another one of our clients needed a better picture of resource availability and usage. Both of these companies had an objective in mind which gave a clearer focus while they implemented the software in their organizations.

How?

How will you use the software? Software systems can do a lot of things, but you shouldn't use those features just because the software does them. Identify the features you are going to use that meet your objective(s). This is where a focus on process is important. I would even advise you to document the process that you want people to follow as they are using those features. For example, how should people create new projects (i.e. they should fill out a form, use the x template, and assign resource roles)?. Or which reports will be used to measure progress? Determine how you will use the features. This will also give you clarity in training so that you do not get into the trap of training strictly on features just because they are there.

When?

When will you implement which pieces of the software? You may decide to phase in features and processes. If you are an organization that is not used to using a tool like this (perhaps it has been haphazard to date), you may want to start off simple. Perhaps your first goal is to simply get all of your projects loaded into the system and get people used to that. Then you can tackle something else. Also, when will you begin? Does it interfere with any other key organizational events? You do not want to implement software when most of your folks are busy with year end duties, for example.

Who?

Who will use the system and more importantly who will manage the implementation? Do you need a full-time person to manage your implementation? Unless you are implementing this across a Fortune 500 company, no. Do you need to assign responsibility to someone to make this happen? Yes. Otherwise, it won't get done. The easiest course of action is for people to do what they have always done. You need someone to make the implementation happen and manage it appropriately.

What?

This is the favorite question that my kids ask. I haven't figured out yet if it means that a) I am not speaking loud enough, b) they cannot hear well, or c) they are bluffing and wish they hadn't heard the question. I have ruled out b with a simple test. If I ask an important question, 62.3% of the time I will get "what?" as a response. But if I whisper something about ice cream from across the room, 87.4% of the time they will demonstrate that they have heard me.

What does this have to do with project management software? Absolutely nothing. But how can you ask why, how, when, and who, without asking what? And I couldn't think of a meaningful use of the question what, except for what features will we use, but I've already covered that so I better move on.

Be sure you ask these questions before you implement project management software. You will find your implementation much more focused with a quicker ROI.

Experts: A Non-Technology Tool

Mark K — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 10:27:50 -0500

I often times talk about project tools in the context of technology tools, such as project management software. However, there are many tools that we can use that are not technical in nature (for example, see my last post on "The Detective's Notebook"). Another tool that we can and should utilize is an expert.

Elizabeth Harrin writes a blog called "A Girl's Guide to Project Management". I just read her recent post on "Use your experts", in which Elizabeth suggests that we should use the experts that are around us.

It can be tempting, especially if you are "experienced", to believe that you are the expert on everything and simply have a knack for knowing everything. I find that this generally happens before some humiliating event that proves that I am most certainly not the expert I thought that I was. You know, "pride comes before a fall."

The best project managers, and I would even say the best leaders, are not the most knowledgeable experts. But they are really good at knowing they do not know something, not assuming they have all the answers, finding the right expert who does have the right answers, asking the right questions, placing the right people around them, and making sure they have the right information at all times to make good decisions. They have a "knack" for getting things done, which really means that they can find out what the current situation is, and gather the right information to determine what needs to be done and how.

So...what experts are around you that you can utilize? If there are no experts around you, first look again because more likely than not they are there and you just don't realize it. Then expand on that to find and develop a connection with experts that you need to supplement your own expertise.

If you don't need any experts, good luck and watch out!

The Detective's Notebook

Mark K — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 10:30:20 -0500

It is nice to be back to posting. Between traveling, projects, and not feeling well, I have had precious little time. I love a good detective story. Every once in a while, I will find myself reading or watching an old Poirot or Sherlock Holmes story. Do you know what makes them such good detectives and everyone else an "amateur"? They weed out fact from noise. And they test their theories to make sure they truly fit the facts.

Of course, I thought of how this could be applied as a tool for project managers (wouldn't you?). How many times have you jumped to a conclusion and later realized it was based on incomplete or erroneous information? I sure have. I have heard "I'll have that critical task done this afternoon" and believed it because I really, really, really, really wanted that task done this afternoon.

I would suggest two "tools" to help separate fact from fiction:

Questions

Project managers should constantly ask questions. I used to worry about annoying people, but that's the job. I certainly don't want to go overboard, but I need to ask questions until I have uncovered the facts. For example, "what do you have left to do to finish this task?", "what else is on your plate?", "what problems have you run into?", or "what have you accomplished already?". If you have a teenager working on a school project, I have found similarities. "This will only take me a few minutes to finish" is a common refrain when in reality the most difficult part of the project has not yet been started. I applaud optimism, but unrealistic optimism is detrimental to projects. So don't be afraid to ask questions.

The Detective's Notebook

A project manager should have a "detective's notebook" when trying to deduce the situation or status. Perhaps this is really a little black book, or perhaps it is a spreadsheet. It is a "fact book". At the top it may say "FACTS ONLY". Only verified facts go in this book. That will force you to be sure that you are dealing with facts. You cannot write that "Joe will have this done this afternoon". That is not a fact, but a presumption. You can write that "Joe has finished x,y, and z; he still has to do a, b, and c; a, b, and c are more difficult; and Joe also has this other task he has to complete." Those are facts. Now you can form a theory that really fits the facts, and not what you want to be true.

These are forms of risk management (you can't know your risks if you don't know the true state of affairs). Let's see if we can't play a little Poirot or Holmes and stop getting blindsided by information that we should have uncovered in the first place in our project management practices.

4 Questions to Ask the Cloud Computing Vendor of your Project Management Software

Mark K — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 08:07:39 -0500

In my last post, I discussed 4 downsides to cloud computing. In this post, I want to give you four questions to ask the cloud computing vendor that is hosting your project management software. These are questions that you should have the answer to so that you are not surprised down the road.

1. What happens when we ramp up our use of the system?

George commented on the last post about another downside of cloud computing, which is limits the vendor may place on transactions in the system. Find out what happens if you double your use of the system, add users, greatly increase the number of documents you are storing, or otherwise increase your use of the system. Is there a storage limit for your documents? Are there thresholds in place that you may hit? Are there costs involved? It would be best to get this in writing from your vendor.

2. How can I get my data?

What happens if you need to change vendors, you need your data to push it into another system, or you simply want some insurance in case something happens to your vendor? Can you get your data? In what format can you get your data? Will they send you a backup file? Do you have to do some sort of download? What formats will these be in? How will you use these formats? Are there extra costs involved? Be prepared and find out the answers up front.

3. How do upgrades work? Do we have control over when an upgrade occurs?

You probably will not have a lot of control over when an upgrade to your system occurs (unless you are a large customer). That does not mean that you should not understand how the process works. Ask the question. How often do they upgrade? How much notice will you get? Do you have any control? Can you have access to a sandbox prior to the upgrade?

4. How do we change our subscription?

It is hard to predict the future. You may grow and need to add additional users. You may find additional uses for the system and want to bring on another department. You may find that you no longer need the system as much as you thought and need to reduce the number of users. Find out what the process is for making these changes, and if there are any hidden costs involved.

What other questions do you think should be asked of your cloud computing vendor?

4 Downsides to Cloud Computing

Mark K — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 10:56:42 -0500

Cloud computing is hot. I cannot seem to look at any sort of technical website or magazine without hearing about it. There are a lot of very good benefits to cloud computing for project management and project management software. In fact, I am a big fan. However, let's not forget about the flip side. No solution is 100% perfect. There is always an upside and a downside to everything. I thought it prudent for us to consider the downside of cloud computing. Here are four of them.

1. You'll Love a Good Internet Connection.

This should be obvious, but has to be mentioned. Cloud computing means that you only have access to your system(s) if you have a good connection to the Internet. Is that a big deal? In many cases no. Good bandwidth is everywhere these days - in the office, at home, in the coffee shop. But this is not the same as using a Word on your laptop. If you are on an airplane without fast wifi, you go to a cabin in the mountains, or take a trip to another country, you could be out of luck. If your power goes out, you're out of luck. Personally, if I go to a cabin in the mountains and cannot work, that's a good thing. But I digress...

2. You Lose Control.

We can spin this any number of ways, but you cannot go to cloud computing without losing some measure of control. You no longer decide when to upgrade your system. You no longer have access to backups of your system. Even if a vendor provides you with access, what are you really going to do with that backup file? You also give up a lot of responsibility for security to the vendor. You trust them to keep your information secure. You may not even know exactly where your data is physically stored (although a good vendor will tell you).

3. The Hodgepodge Effect.

I just made up that term. It is easy to sign up for a cloud service for this, or a cloud service for that. You can easily wind up with all kinds of cloud-based applications that your organization is using with no coherent strategy to use the systems together in a strategic fashion. There is a certain innovative attractiveness to groups finding the solutions to get things done. But it is also important to strategically use technology to accomplish organizational objectives.

4. You Marry Your Vendor.

Your vendor becomes a partner. You rely on them. Once you have your data and processes in place and have used your system for a while, you are reliant on them to perform. You rely on them to enable you to get at the data you need. After all, you can't just have someone run a quick query to pull data from the database anymore.

What happens when the vendor updates the product? Is it a good update? You probably will not have the option of simply not installing the update. Is training provided? Do you have to pay for it?

There are many things for which you will be reliant on your vendor, more so than with an installed system.

As I said, there are many benefits to cloud computing, but let's not forget about the downsides or pretend they don't exist. What downsides have you seen?

How an Airline is Using Better Tools

Mark K — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 12:18:40 -0500

This is a bit of a side note, but I read an article this week with a lesson for those of us that use (or need to use) better project management software tools. The article was on how United Airlines will now be using iPads for all of its pilots. The purpose of the iPads are to get rid of the reams of charts that pilots have to carry around with them all the time. These charts are necessary to always have the current navigation charts, airport diagrams, and other pertinent information about each flight.

That is a big change to a decades-old procedure. Do you ever find that the reason you are using the tools and procedures that you do, is because "we've always done it this way"? We should not implement technology for the sake of technology, but conversely we should not eliminate technology opportunities simply to keep a decades-old process. The right technology matched with the right problem and implemented in the right way can reap big rewards.

Are Tools Necessary for a Successful PMO?

Mark K — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 13:07:17 -0500

Project management organizations (PMOs) have taken off in recent years. In fact, in its State of the PMO Report for 2010, PM Solutions found that 84% of survey respondents had a PMO. In 2000, the number was 47%.

My question is whether or not tools are necessary for successful PMO? I am using the term "tool" to mean a central planning tool. That could be almost anything, from a full blown project management software or PPM solution to something more simple, but that still centralizes information and plans. It may even be a set of tools.

Fundamentally, processes are going to be much more important to a PMO. You have to have the right organizational processes and procedures in place to deal with things like how projects are prioritized, how projects are run, how resources are assigned, and other key functions. While a tool that shows you centralized views of projects and related information can be very helpful, it is not absolutely essential. After all, you could do that in an Excel spreadsheet or SharePoint portal.

However, there is one area where I believe a tool is necessary and that is the area of resource management. In its report, PMO Solutions also found that "resource management" was the top issue and priority for PMOs with over 64% of respondents indicating that improving resource planning and forecasting was their top priority. This is understandable. Resource management with or without a tool is difficult, especially when you throw in contentions, politics, changing demands, and personalities who want resources on their projects.

Fundamentally, the technical aspects of resource management are difficult to do without a supporting tool, which makes the management aspects more difficult. I would say that there are some basic fundamentals that need to be tracked / tackled:

Creating a central resource pool (a central list of resources from which to assign projects)
An overall view of where resources are assigned and how they are allocated
Prioritize projects

These items are difficult to do in a flat Excel spreadsheet. They also imply that you need to aggregate information and cannot maintain it separately.

So while there are many things that could be done without a central tool, resource management is not one of them. Agree or disagree?

3 Tips to Evaluate a Configurable Project Management Software System

Mark K — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 10:29:59 -0500

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a post on the characteristics of a highly configurable project management software system. You can read that post here. Now let's answer the question, how can you know if a system is truly configurable? Here are three tips that you can use to evaluate a system.

1. Test a Key Process

First you need to choose a key process that your organization executes. Don't have one? Stop! You need to work on your processes first before getting a tool to support a non-existent process. You'll never be able to do a proper evaluation otherwise, much less get real value from implementation. Now, let's assume you have a process and it is documented. Perhaps it is the process for creating and launching a new project. Take that documented process and implement it in the tool. See how the tool can mold itself and be configured to implement your process. You may need to add some database fields to capture key data elements, you may need to create a template, or you may need to generate a notification to key individuals.

After you have done that to your satisfaction, change the process. Pretend that you are a year down the road and your process is changing. Make up something. Now see how easy it is to change the process in the tool. That will reveal a lot about how configurable the tool really is.

2. Extend the Tool

Create some custom fields. Change a screen or a form. See how easy it is to change the information that is shown and collected on the screen. This will be important as you grow and mature in your processes.

3. Create a Reporting Factory

Reports are king. You have to be able to analyze your data. Don't be satisfied with the canned reports in the system. Dream up other reports that you can run, lots of them. Create them in the system. How easy is it to create them? Can you create them? If you don't know what reports you need, you probably should step back and think that through. Then try and create them. This should include reports that are centered around projects, tasks, and resources at a minimum. It may also be reports around time or costs. Even if you do not think you will need that information, you may in the future and this will help you evaluate how you can adapt to your changing needs.

4 Ways to Ruin Your Day With Poor Resource Management

Mark K — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 11:05:19 -0500

Resource management is important. It can and will make or break your project. If we have the right people, managed correctly, the opportunities for our project to succeed go way up. If we have the wrong people, or manage our resources poorly, it will be a rough day. For that matter, it will be a rough month.

What are some things to watch out for? Here are four “gotchas” to watch out for to be sure that you don’t fall into the poor resource management trap as you maintain your project management software tool. In this post, we are primarily focused on human resource management – people.

1. Not factoring in non-project work.

It is extremely rare these days where a resource is working exclusively on your project. People are more often working on multiple-projects at the same time, multi-tasking, and being pulled in a lot of different directions. They may be working hard on your project, but also have to take care of operational duties. They also must spend time answering emails, phone calls, and going to meetings. You must factor in this non-project time. If you need a resource to give you a solid 20 hours of work, you cannot expect that to be accomplished in 20 hours because they will be working on other things. I have heard, but cannot immediately find validation, that 6 to 6.5 hours per day is a benchmark. That sounds high to me. You know your organization and its culture better than I do. In a typical project management software tool, this will be referred to as their capacity.

2. Not accurately estimating the amount of time you need the resources.

You need to accurately know how long you will need your resources. This means that you need to follow good project management techniques, including building a solid work breakdown structure, and setting up a good schedule. How long have these activities taken in the past? How long do the resources themselves estimate that it will take this time? Have they done these activities before so that we know their estimate is probably accurate. These are questions you must ask so that you can accurately estimate the resource quantity (aka time) needed. I would rather estimate more than I need and actually take less, then estimate less and take more.

3. Not considering the difference between effort and duration.

Effort (sometimes referred to as "work") is how much time or how many hours a resource needs to work on a task uninterrupted in order to complete. Duration is how much calendar time it will take to complete that much effort (and thus complete the task). For example, the effort required for a task may be 20 hours, but it will take 5 calendar days (40 hours) before the task is actually completed due to other work and priorities. Be sure that you are estimating both of these. Do not confuse effort for duration. Otherwise, in 20 hours you will wondering why your task is only 50% complete.

4. Not understanding the impact of other projects.

You need to constantly be on the lookout for other projects that will become a higher priority and siphon off your resources. This may be perfectly legitimate because another project may be more important to the organization as a whole. However, you can and should still plan for this. For example, if you are delivering something to a client and you need a high-value resource that “everyone” needs, plan for that. Build some margin into your schedules to allow for this. Set the expectations up front. But don’t bury your head in the sand, pretend that it will not happen, and then get upset when it does.

This is obviously not an all-inclusive list. Leave a comment if you have made some mistakes that will help someone else with their resource management.